FOGHAT Drummer ROGER EARL Talks "Slow Ride" – "I Love Playing The Song; I Play It Every Night"

Greg Prato recently spoke with Foghat drummer Roger Earl for the Long Island Pulse about the band’s latest album, Under The Influence, and the band’s classic song “Slow Ride”. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

Q: When “Slow Ride” was first recorded, did you know it was a special song?

Earl: “Yeah, actually. We recorded the Fool For The City album up in Sharon, Vermont. We took about two or three months off the road, and we were doing really well. We wanted to put the time in and get it right. Nick Jameson, who was the bass player and producer of that album, was up there [with us] mixing two of the songs—one of them was ‘Slow Ride’, and what was eventually the b-side of the single, ‘Save Your Loving (For Me)’. After we mixed it, we drove back down to Bearsville Records, and went in to see the head of Bearsville, Paul Fishkin, and said, ‘This is our next single.’ Initially, there were some copies that went out, and the DJ’s would have to fade it out, but later we acquiesced, and Nick edited it down to four-and-a-half minutes. I love playing the song—I play it every night, and we just did another version on our new album.”

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Foghat scored big on the Billboard charts with their latest album, Under the Influence, debuting at #17 on Hard Rock Albums, and #40 on Independent Albums. To celebrate this accomplishment, the band will be rocking BB King’s in NYC for a record release party, on September 21st. And after the show, the band will meet and greet their fans & friends at the bar which will be serving Foghat Cellars Wines!

Some very special guests who also performed on the record will be joining Foghat on stage. These include incredible blues guitarist Scott Holt (former Buddy Guy), and for the first time since 1970 (in a pre-announced show), Kim Simmonds of Savoy Brown will be joining his former band mate Roger Earl. Roger played with Savoy Brown from 1968 through 1970 and performed on five albums during that period. The audience is in for a real treat! Other surprise guests are also in the works.

According to Kim Simmonds in a recent interview, “I always had a great respect for Roger as a person and a drummer. He certainly helped make Savoy Brown the entity that it is…. It’s always nice to be around people that understand you and know you well. Like when you go home to your parents and the family you feel comfortable because you know that your parents really know everything about you. I think it’s the same with Roger and myself. We know a lot about each other and that’s the sort of a comfort that you get from still being in touch with people. I suppose it’s like old school mates or something. In this case we are old band mates.”

And the feeling is mutual from Roger’s end. “Kim gave me my shot when I was 20 years old and I joined his band. I have very fond memories playing with Kim, and also it’s a gas that we can still be friends and make music together. Kim Simmonds is just spectacular on this record. Kim and I remained friends over the years. In fact, we jammed together; when we did the Rock Legends cruise last year. Kim got up and played a couple of songs with us, and I played on another day that Kim and Savoy Brown was playing. I played three or four songs with him. As a guitar player, he was always a great! And he is even better now! He’s a brilliant blues guitarist.”

Formed in 1971 in London, Foghat remains one of rock’s top “boogie” bands, having amassed eight gold records, one platinum, and one double platinum record in the US, along the way. Additionally, the group has scored hits with the songs “Slow Ride,” “Fool for the City,” a cover of “I Just Want to Make Love to You,” “Stone Blue” and “Third Time Lucky (First Time I Was a Fool),” all of which are still in regular rotation on classic rock radio. And on September 21st, New York City-based Foghat fans will be in for a night they will never forget!

Released on June 24th, Under The Influence, produced by Grammy winner Tom Hambridge, draws from Foghat’s collective musical influences, as the band not only brought in some special guests from their past, who helped launch and inspire the Foghat story, but also invited some new friends into the mix to continue the journey of this never idle band.

Under The Influence tracklisting:

“Under The Influence”
“Knock It Off”
“Ghost”
“She’s Got A Ring In His Nose”
“Upside Of Lonely”
“Heard It Through The Grapevine”
“Made Up My Mind”
“Hot Mama”
“Heart Gone Cold”
“Honey Do List”
“All Because Of You”
“Slow Ride”

Teaser:

BraveWords’ Martin Popoff spoke to leader Roger Earl for a new feature, which can be found here.

Roger Earl photo by Vintage Rock Magazine